Top 10 Boxed Sets

(1995-99, Pixar/Disney, G, $69.99) If you’re impressed with what DVDs can extract from celluloid and analog source materials, just wait till you get a load of what it can do from a purely digital master. As the first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story — and its equally impressive sequel — set the standard for excellence in home video. Throw in a supplemental third disc — which serves as a computer animation how-to, recounting each step of the painstaking process — and you’ve got a fun-filled package that will keep you entertained to infinity and … well, you know the rest. CHOICE CUT The 52 Saturday-morning bumper clips are a blast, but for pure yuks, nothing tops the Toy Story 2 fake blooper reel. DEPTH CHARGE 10 SOUND + VISION 10

2 The Alien Legacy

(1979-97, Fox, $109.98) This sci-fi saga has evolved much like its titular beasties: It began with a haunted-ship terror flick, reached its peak with a balls-out war movie, took a side step into prison drama, and concluded with a Frankenstein-like medical horror. Each twist gets a first-class treatment here, but the gold star goes to Aliens, which boasts more than 17 minutes of scenes that James Cameron never should’ve cut. CHOICE CUT On the Alien disc, you can access the personnel files of the Nostromo‘s crew, which gives tantalizing glimpses of backgrounds we’d otherwise never see. DEPTH CHARGE 8 SOUND + VISION 9

3 The James Bond Collection, Vols. 1, 2, 3

(1962-97, MGM, $157.96, $112.96, $134.96) Rather than slapping together a bunch of bare-bones discs we would have bought anyway, MGM has tailored the ultimate 007 compendium. On all 18 discs (The World Is Not Enough is sold separately), stylish, dynamic menus lead to in-depth director commentaries, deleted scenes, storyboard-to-film comparisons, and music videos. Stirring. CHOICE CUT Sprinkled throughout are more than 30 documentaries, the best (on the You Only Live Twice disc) being a study of the entire series’ instantly familiar title sequences. Cool, very cool. DEPTH CHARGE 9 SOUND + VISION 7

(1968-98, Fox, G/PG, $99.98) This barrelful of social allegory contains wide-screen versions of the influential primate pentalogy and also a feature-length doc. Hosted by the late Roddy McDowall — the hardest-working man in monkey business — it frankly explains how the franchise came to rule the Hollywood jungle and then to slip off its vine. CHOICE CUT Use that opposable thumb to click over to the trailer for the original — a small masterpiece of pop pomp. DEPTH CHARGE 5 SOUND + VISION 7